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Stroud & District Athletic Club Newsletter
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Jim’s August message
The best news this month is that our deputy Chair, Dermot Mullen, had successful heart bypass surgery in Bristol and has returned home to recuperate. Our very best wishes go out to Dermot for a complete recovery and we look forward to seeing him round and about as he rediscovers his strength and mobility.
On the running front it has been a busy month – the Linda Franks 5 mile continued the Glos AAA race series, where Lee Christmas was the first MV60. The Standish Woodland Chase was well supported with 113 finishers and Ra Twilley coming home 3rd for the Club. This was followed by our Cherington 10k, with a great turnout of members enjoying a lovely warm evening and winner Lee Stopford (MV35) and 3rd place Simon Fortnam (MV50) both set new age group records, Ra Twilley an impressive 2nd just two days after Standish. The organisation of both races went like clockwork and the Race Committee did a great job, which can only enhance the reputation of the Club.
The Roger Briers race series continues with Woodchester Park on Sun 5 Sep. As usual, we are looking for volunteer marshals – if you can help please let us know.
Our juniors coaches are now busy planning for the autumn term and emails to parents will be going out shortly with some exciting changes for the year ahead. We will still be needing more help from members to help run the sessions so if you feel you can spare an hour or so per week, perhaps on a rota basis, please let us know.
At the August committee meeting we discussed how we would start to bring the adult running groups back together again now that most restrictions relating to Covid-19 in England have been removed. We had a low-key social gathering at Stroud Cricket Club on 30 July and it was lovely to see runners from different groups meeting for a drink and chat after a long time apart. Our thanks to Social Secretary, Russell Simpson, for organising.
The emphasis in guidance has changed to one of personal responsibility but we want all our members to feel comfortable and enjoy their sport safely. For the time being, we have agreed that we will continue to organise our Adult running sessions using the Run Together app or direct contact with group leaders, as they prefer. If group leaders want to lead sessions starting from Archway they may do so, but groups should meet outside and not in the entrance hall. No-one should turn up to a session if they are displaying any symptoms of COVID-19. Good communication between leaders and runners remains key. We will shortly be sending a questionnaire to all members and I would encourage you to use this opportunity to feed back how you are feeling and how you would like to see the Club move back to normality.
https://www.englandathletics.org/athletics-and-running/news/guidance-update-2021/
Keep running!
Jim
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DONATION TO STONEHOUSE ROTARY
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Racing can't happen without the support of volunteers, marshals and local communities.
As part of the support from the locals of Frampton on Severn for the Frampton 10k, the club has donated £1,500 to the Stonehouse Rotary Club.
Relationships like this help our wishes to continue visiting Frampton year after year.
You can read more about this on the following link below:
SADAC Donates £1500 to Stonehouse Rotary - Stroud and District Athletic Club (stroudac.co.uk)
If you know of a small / local cause that would benefit from a small grant, please see the following link where you can find out more:
- www.stonehouserotary.org.uk
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Marshalls required for races
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We need marshals for the Woodchester park run (5th September) . If you are able to help out with the marshaling of our club races then please drop us an email to raceinfo@stroudac.co.uk indicating how you can help out.
Please remember as great as it is to run these events, they can't take place without enough marshaling support.
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Recent race results - July
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WESTONBIRT HOUSE 10K
There were a few faces from Stroud AC who appeared to race at Westonbirt House 10K on the 23rd July, this popular event attracts runners from across the county for its setting and atmosphere and did not disappoint.
Feel free to view the results on the link below:
Westonbirt House Summer 10k (dbmaxresults.co.uk)
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28th July saw Stroud AC runners attend the Cheltenham + County Harriers Midsummer Open at the Principality Stadium, taking part in races in distances 1500m & 5000m. Notable performances from Jason Barry, Ali Cambell and Alan Pitt, a full race report can be found further down in the newsletter.
A list of the event results can be found here:
https://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2021/mso3%20results%20v1d.pdf
* If there are other races taking place that you'd like raised on the newsletter, please just let us know, to ensure they're captured in the next newsletter please post something on the Facebook group or a direct message to either Ryan, Ian or Jim.
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Cheltenham Open Meeting Race Report
On a sweltering evening at the Prince of Wales Stadium in Cheltenham a small group of Stroud and District AC men took to the track to race in 30C temperatures.
Jason Barry was the first to race in the 3000M B race. Moving into second place after 600M the V45 held his position in a youthful field to finish well in 10.42.5.
Ali Cambell (the 2021 Gloucestershire AAA 5000M champion) took on a highly competitive field in the 5000M A race. With athletes dropping out alongside him Ali stuck hard to the task to finish with a very respectable 16.31.9 in the conditions.
Simon Fortnam continued his resurgence since turning 50 this year. After holding second place for most of the race Simon pulled away with 3 laps to go to finish 1st in the D Race. Simon's 18:05.1 is a club V50 record and the 3rd club track record this summer.
In the same race, Stroud coach Alan Pitt led by example to his athletes by racing hard and competitive. Aiming for a sub 20 the V55 delivered with 19:58.4.
The evening overall was a great set of results for the Stroud team and a relaxed setting with the chance for local athletes to meet up and race again.
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Maverick Chiltern’s Trail Marathon - A self reflection by Ra Twilley
“Elated and inspired. It’s been a long time coming! Many hours of training - Experimenting, contemplating and adapting. Learning from others and finding what works best for me.
Things that went well:
1. Run a little slower than you think you can - No need to overdo it, you will appreciate the extra energy later on.
2. Prepare for hills - Make the most of flatter parts to get into a good rhythm, but save a bit for the hills as they require more energy.
3. Focus on the moment - Especially towards the end I started to think about finishing and nearly tripped over a few times. It's always best to deal with where you are in the moment.
4. Focus on being comfortable - Sometimes it will be tough, things will hurt and you will question what you are doing. Those questions are important, helping us approach situations with more understating and appreciation. Suffering is not the goal, how we deal with it defines us.
What wasn’t so great:
1. Nutrition - I tried a few different products on race day which didn’t work out. My energy levels were pretty good throughout the race but I struggled to eat/drink towards the end. After the race I could only drink small amounts and didn’t feel like eating until the following day. I have had this before in long races but feel I am getting better at dealing with it. Something to keep working on”
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Ra finished this event in 1st place overall with a time of 3hr 32min. Incredible effort and all the kudos go to Ra - well done!
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BGR - BOB GRAHAM ROUND - A report by Ben Lowe
In May of 2021 Strouds very own Ben Lowe took part in the BGR, a 72 mile ultra run, taking in 42 peaks, all to be completed within a 24 hour time limit.
Ben has kindly written up two reports, the first link is background content containing pictures of the event, the second link is a report on the attempt itself. Please take time to read through and appreciate what an effort this was to achieve.
Note Ben managed to complete this in 23 hrs 44 minutes! A huge accomplishment.
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Stroud Half Marathon 2021
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Stroud Half Marathon entries are now open, please see the link below for information on the event and for sign ups - a great local event if you have never participated before.
Stroud Half Marathon 2021 - Stroud Half Marathon
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As we begin a return to what we might call normality, groups of runners building again and club sessions almost in full flow, it's more important than ever to get a sense of how our club members are feeling.
Please can all club members take a few minutes to fill out a brief google form survey, your feedback is more valued than ever.
https://forms.gle/jVZ6pVMdoaNjLDWE6
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What else would you like to see/read/get from the club newsletter? Have you ever sat reading the newsletter each month wondering if something else could be included?
If you can think of anything. whether it be a one off post or something we can cover each month, then please get in touch with Ryan, Ian or Jim and we will see what we can do!
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Sharing Success - Runner of the Month Award
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Runner of the Month Roll of Honour
2017
March - Ryan Major
April - Tom Mortimer
May - Jan Chinnick
June - Jo Fifield
July - Jo Stevenson
August - Sabrina Pace-Humphries
September - Richard Crampton
October - Alan Pitt
November - Jim Adams
December - Alastair Campbell
2018
January - Darren Jewell
February - Sharon Stevenson
March - Annie Testar
April - Sabrina Pace-Humphries
May - Lee Stopford
June - Helen Hurn
July - Mario Mcnamara
August - Bill Chandler
September - Hayley Stockwell
October - Jack Turner
November - Peter Law
December - Adam Tavner
2019
January - Alison Robinson
February - Jane Townsend
March - Mark Dyer
April -Kirsty Woodward-Owen
May - Ian Cutler
June - Penny Howard
July / August - Mario Mcnamara
September - Hayley & Adrian Stockwell
October - Russell Simpson
Nov - Jeff Waters
Dec - Steve Andrew
2020
Jan - Julie Walford
Feb - No Award
March - Nick Coyle
April - Chris Brown
May - Karen Waller
June - Rob Case
July - John Tierney
August Special Award - Jonathon Brough
September - Darren Jewell
November - Sophie Weare
2021
January - Hannah Niblett
Feb - Tony Buckland
Mar - Ian Cutler
April - Steve Hurn
May - Tony Christmas
June - Ben Lowe
July - Carrick Stimson-Machers
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Runner of the Month
Congratulations to Carrick who won the July Runner of the Month Award.
It’s not only that he’s so dedicated (both to running and the club) but he runs with such unadulterated joy! He also thanked all the supporters and Marshall's during Frampton before finishing and returning to give me support. He’s just simply brilliant. After struggling with injury the 21 year old has come back and delivered two great results for Stroud. Firstly, Frampton 10k, 3rd Stroud runner in 14th place with a time of 37:46 then 11th place overall in the Gloucester 10k with a PB of 37:22. I’m sure we will see much more of this to come.
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Don't forget to email Jim with names for next months Runner of the Month.
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Nominees for Runner Of The Month into August are as follows:
Vote 1:
Charlie Gorman
Charlie is so welcoming to new club members and she is so upbeat and positive as well as organises lovely long weekend runs, in addition to this she trains hard, often starting a long run early before joining her children at Parkrun, volunteered for the ladies Cotswold Relay team and is aiming for her first ultra in September.
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Vote 2:
Simon Fortnam
After struggling with injuries in recent years he has been revitalised since turning 50 and broken the club V50 records at 1 mile, 3000M and 5000M.
On the road Simon went back under 18 minutes for 5K including a 17:34 which was his best time for 8 years.
I think he’s very under the radar within club and achieving amazing results in the M50 category. It's a testament to hard work and approaching racing as you get older with the right attitude by setting challenging but realistic goals and achieving them.
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Vote 3:
Gareth Ponsford
He ran the gruelling Brecon to Cardiff 43 mile trail ultra. Gareth finished in 8 hrs 50 and tells me more long distance runs are in the diary. What an inspiration!
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Vote 4:
Diane Rankin
Di recently set a new PB over the 5k, just a few months after her 50th birthday. What’s more she did this not at a race, but as a solo time trial. Since turning 50, Di has also already run two marathons - one in support of a friend running a virtual marathon, the other at Shepperdine in May.
Di is an inspiration to us all and shows that, if you continue to work hard and dedicate yourself to something, you can keep getting better and better!
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So if you would like to take part in the voting for this month's Runner of the Month please click your choice below.
Vote 1 - Charlie Gorman
Vote 2 - Simon Fortnam
Vote 3 - Gareth Ponsford
Vote 4 - Diane Rankin
To nominate someone for next month's Runner of the Month all you have to do is email Jim the details or let him know at Club.
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